Preaching with Purpose: The Urgent Task of Homiletics (Jay Adams Library)

by Jay E. Adams

The pastoral preacher must be prepared at each gathering of the saints to use the Word in some way in order to “equip” them for their work of ministry. That is paramount. To honor God (the ultimate objective of all that a believer does), the preacher’s purpose must be God’s purpose. There can be no doubt that the pastoral preacher is obligated to meet that need: “And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for a work of service leading to the building up of Christ’s body” (Eph. 4:11, 12). Pastoral preaching is a prime means for doing so. Faithful fulfillment of his weekly task, then, entails edificational preaching. The minister of the Word is a mason who goes to church each week to lay block. He builds on a foundation, and to be faithful he must build that which will be able to withstand the fires of testing (I Cor. 3:10-15).